5 Nonprofit Innovators to Watch in 2013

By Nicole Wallace

Tonya Allen, Skillman Foundation

Detroit foundations play a key role in efforts to revitalize the troubled city. Tonya Allen, chief operating officer at the Skillman Foundation, is the architect of the philanthropy’s 10-year, $100-million program to engage residents to strengthen six neighborhoods that are home to 30 percent of the city’s children. Now Ms. Allen—whom Ben Hecht of Living Cities calls “wicked smart”—has been tapped to be Skillman’s next chief executive after Carol Goss retires this year.

Rosanne Haggerty, Community Solutions

Rosanne Haggerty won plaudits­—and a MacArthur foundation “genius grant”—as the founder of Common Ground, a nonprofit that combats homelessness in New York and Connecticut by providing permanent housing complexes equipped with counseling, job training, and other services.

Now the leader of Community Solutions, Ms. Haggerty is spearheading the 100,000 Homes Campaign, an effort that brings together national organizations and local communities to house 100,000 homeless individuals and families by July 2014.

Salman Khan, Khan Academy

With its promise of helping students learn at their own pace, the Khan Academy is making waves in the world of education. What started as a way for Salman Khan to tutor his young cousins has grown into a Web site that features more than 3,600 videos and practice exercises in math, science, economics, and other topics.

The organization has won the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and other donors, and now with a $350,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it is experimenting with ways to apply its approach to medical education.

Photo by Hugh Hamilton

Andrew Zolli, PopTech

Andrew Zolli, executive director of PopTech, believes that to make real headway on society’s toughest problems, experts from different fields need to share ideas and work together to develop breakthrough solutions.

In 2013 the nonprofit-innovation group is rolling out its new Impact Fund, which will provide support to get unconventional collaborative efforts off the ground.

Working with the Rockefeller Foundation, PopTech is also starting an annual fellowship program that will bring hand-picked groups of experts to the fund’s Bellagio Center for a two-week “immersion residency” focused on a complex problem. This year’s topic: “Creating Resilience Through Big Data.”

Photo by Heather Phelps-Lipton

Trey McIntyre, Trey McIntyre Project

The relationship the Trey McIntyre Project has built with its hometown of Boise, Idaho, is a model during a time when many arts groups struggle to attract new supporters. The fledgling ballet company first announced its presence in the Western city with spontaneous dance performances in outdoor markets, on college campuses, and at offices around the city. The company makes frequent visits to local schools and hospitals, and the high-profile choreographer invites the public into the studio as he works.

A local bar, in partnership with the charity, created cocktails named for each of the company’s dancers. “They’ve been fearlessly entrepreneurial,” says Ben Cameron, who oversees arts grant making at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.